NIB tri-quarter losses increase to €600m
National Irish Bank (NIB) has reported pre-tax losses of €600m for the nine months to September 30, compared to losses of €468m for the same period last year.
NIB said the performance was down to a combination of reduced customer demand and the impact of impaired loans.
The bank, owned by Danske Bank, said it has set aside €632m for loan impairment charges.
Operating profit before impairment charges was €32m for the period , a decrease of 11% on last year, while income was down 17% to €103m.
Costs fell by 19% to €71m, driven by the bank’s restructuring programme.
The bank said its total loan book stood at €9bn, down 8% on last year. Commercial property loans amounted to €3.3bn, with most of the bank’s loan impairment charges in this area. The quality of the bank’s €3.4bn mortgage book remained ‘satisfactory’, NIB said.
Customer deposits increased by 18% to €5bn.
“Impairments remain very high mostly due to the continued weakness of the property market in Ireland,” said CEO Andrew Healy.
”This said, they are slightly down on the previous quarter and we hope to see a downward trajectory moving forward.
“Deposit and cost performance is encouraging, with the benefits of our restructuring programme particularly being seen on the cost line.”
Parent Danske Bank reported Profit reported total pre-tax profits of €482m for the period, down 28%. Operating profit for the group was down 24% to €1,611m.
